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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

No More Waiting for Wait, Rest, Pause

by Sue Heavenrich

Wait, Rest, Pause is a book worth waiting for. And today we get to find out more about it from the author -

Wait. What's that? Sorry, folks. We have to wait just 3 more lines because - Announcement!  Cathy Ballou Mealey has won the tote from Teresa Robeson. Cathy - please send a PM to Kathy Halsey. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogpost...

What do you do when you need a book – but there isn’t anything published yet? If you’re Marcie Flinchum Atkins, you write the one you need. While teaching fourth grade, she found herself searching for a book about dormancy. You know: that stage trees go through in winter, volcanoes go through when they aren’t blowing their tops, the stage some insects and amphibians overwinter in.

So four and a half years ago, Marcie began scribbling a draft for that book. At the same time she was (as she recalls) knee deep in moving across the state, selling her house – and buying a new one, not to mention interviewing for a new job. But she managed to share her story with critique partners and submitted it to a number of agents, reaping a basket full of rejections.

Then she put it away for a while. Tucked it into a safe spot where it could… go dormant. Wait. Rest. Nap. Then in March of 2018, Millbrook Press put out a call for manuscripts. Marcie nudged her manuscript awake, helped it shake the sleep out of its eyes, and sent it off to the editor.

How fitting that next week, her book Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature hits the shelves. It is a lyrical book – you can see immediately when you read the first page:

If you were dormant, you would pause—
waiting,
   resting,

      huddling,
         curling,
            napping.

The book is also filled with verbs. Not all that surprising, since Marcie focused on verbs in her fourth-grade classroom. As a teacher she told students to “Highlight your verbs!” Because verbs make our writing stronger, she says. A fan of word banks, Marcie often jots the verbs from a story-in-progress on a separate page, then eliminates the weak verbs.

“You want to look for specificity and readability,” she says. She’ll also list other categories of words, such as colors. “I use a lot of dictionaries and thesauruses to make sure I find the right words.” She’s posted some examples of this on her website, where she shares tips with other writers.

The process doesn’t end once the book is accepted by an editor, either. From book title to words on the page, Marcie said she found herself making plenty of tweaks to the language.

“Sometimes a slight change in order makes all the difference,” she says. Sometimes it’s finding a new way to say the same thing. For example, Marcie wanted to use the word “antifreeze” to describe how insects survive freezing temperatures. “But it’s not very lyrical, so I tried to figure out how else to say it, in a better way.”

Titles undergo scrutiny as well. Marcie’s original title was Pause: Dormancy in Nature. But when said aloud, some people heard “paws”…  and that was confusing. So the editor asked if Marcie could come up with a title that would reflect the lyrical nature of the text. To help her think up titles, Marcie wrote keywords on index cards.

There was one little thing Marcie wouldn’t budge on. “I wasn't willing to give up the word dormancy in the subtitle. As a teacher and now librarian, I knew having a subtitle that really shows what the book is about was important.” Fortunately, the editors agreed.

Luscious language is just one of the things I love about Wait, Rest, Pause. I like that Marcie has back matter for curious kids, older siblings, parents, teachers – anyone who wants to learn more about sleeping through the cold season. This makes it a great resource for older elementary school children who are looking for an understanding of what happens in the natural world when it’s too cold for sap to flow or ladybugs to fly.



“I hope my book makes kids curious enough to want to learn more,” Marcie said. “I see it as a springboard for inquiry.”

Thank you, Marcie, for talking shop with us today on GROG. Wait, Rest, Pause officially releases on Sept. 3 - just six short days from now.
Find out more about Marcie over at her website. Check out my review of Wait, Rest, Pause here, and  Jenna Grodzicki's interview with Marcie from July over at the Lerner blog.

44 comments:

  1. A wonderful interview! Thank you. Marcie....where did you get your photos from? Was a photographer assigned to this book ?

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    1. Hi Linda! The team at Lerner used stock photography. I'm so amazed at how it turned out! :)

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  2. Sue, this interview has such style and voice. Marcie, I am so excited for you and this book! Here's to yo, perseverance, and your talent! Cheers and celebrations to you.

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    1. Kathy, thank you so much! I have always appreciated you being on my "street team." xoxo

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  3. Marcie, you know I cannot wait to get my hands on this book. I love the story behind your story! And I love your tips for listing the verbs in your story and getting rid of the weak ones. I'm going to do that today in my WIP! Congrats again!

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  4. Wonderful book, Marcie -- big congratulations. And thanks, Sue, for this interesting interview!

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    1. Thanks, Chris! And yes, many thanks to Sue! I loved chatting with her about this book!

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  5. Lovely interview, and I especially love STEM books!

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  6. Love getting a peek inside your writing process, Marcie! Thank you for sharing how you let your manuscript rest until it was the right time for it to take root and blossom into a real live book!

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  7. This is a gorgeous book and I am so excited about it and for my Notable19s pal, Marcie!!

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    1. Thank you so much for all of your support and for bringing me into the Notable19s. I'm so lucky to be a part of that great group!

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  8. Terrific interview--and yes to lists and lists of strong verbs!

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  9. Soon the wait will be over and Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature will be on my very own bookshelf. Congrats Marcie!

    And WOOT! I'll be in touch Kathy. I feel tote-ally lucky!

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    1. Wiley picked you out, Cathy, because he was looking for names w/ "C" for "Corgi." There were 2, but "Cathy" has the same # of letters as "Wiley." Smiles

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  10. What an amazing concept for a NF book, Marcie! I can't wait to read the full book as the text that Sue gave a peek at is so lyrical. Congrats on your beautiful creation!

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  11. Marcie! I don’t want to wait, rest, pause to read your book. Best wishes.

    Sue! Thank you for sharing a captivating interview.

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  12. Marcie, happy to say I knew you when. Love the idea of writing what’s not on the shelves. I predict this will be a big seller. Big congrats, and Sue, I love your interview style—-warm and personal.

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    1. Aww, Sherri. Thanks! Yes, Sue is wonderful. It was so fun to chat with her.

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  13. The interview is a lyrical as the book! Great job! And congrats, Marcie!

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  14. Congrats Marcie! Thank you Sue and Marcie for this informative pause in my day. I can't wait to read your new book Marcie :)

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  15. Wonderful interview! Marcie, you know how much I love your book. I know kids are going to love it, too!

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    1. Thank you! I was preparing your book for my library shelves today! :) Kids will be so excited!!!

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  16. Love how this book came to be and all the lusciousness about it, Marcie!

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  17. This post is great! And your new book sounds wonderful--congratulations! Hope you don't mind if I share this post with classmates in a PB writing course I'm taking.

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    1. I would love for you to share it! I'm sure Sue would love it too. :)

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  18. I can't wait to read this, Marcie! I love that your book had a period of dormancy before it bloomed. The lyrical language is a treat. Congratulations!

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    1. Thanks, Patty! Yes, a good friend told me that it seemed appropriate that, after all these years of writing, my book on dormancy would be the one to bloom first. :)

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  19. What a fabulous topic for a PB! Congrats Marcie - thanks for sharing your story and your book’s journey!

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  20. Congratulations, Marcie, on seeing the need in the market, and going for it. Brave and exciting.

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  21. Congrats, Marcie! What a great interview and fabulous topic for a nonfiction PB.

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  22. Hi Marcie!
    I admire the tenacity & bounce-back you've modeled for us all. What is your secret for response, when your best efforts seem to hit a wall? You are living The Dream & it is all due to action, industry & gumption, I believe. Plus, this poetic side of you, which I didn't know & now, love also. I can't wait to ask our library to order (even tho in Florida we don't have as much evidence of dormancy, it's something hothouse kids need to know for success in the world.) Many more titles await someone with your moxie, mojo & methods. I bet your Family is so proud, too :)

    And Sue, appreciations for your deft questions & the entire post.

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  23. Intriguing concept. The title is perfect! Now I'll just go ahead and enjoy the remaining summer days and early fall before dormancy!

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  24. This book looks amazing. Fun interview and great writing tips for all of us. Thanks!

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